Customer Reviews

Thrill

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thrill is an even better CD than the estimable Wishbone - more cohesive, less studio gimmickry that allows that powerful voice to transmit these devastatingly TRUE songs so directly. A couple of hard rockers, a couple of torch songs, some goofy cabaret arrangements: this woman knows about the battleground of love. Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple come off as mere girls compared to Eleni, PJ Harvey would be so lucky to sing so well or write songs that you actually sing for days. I'm so bored with pop hype, but this is an album you'll carry for a lifetime.

Very simply, Eleni Mandell writes and performs remarkable music. Her music is definitely some of the best to come out of the last 10 years and I'm so grateful I discovered her.

I'm a HUGE fan, and THRILL is one my favorites. Her lyrics are so evocative and her performance of her songs is fantastic.There really isn't anyone I can compare her to because she's THAT original. Her lyrics are poetic yet gritty, her songs are sophistocated yet authentic and primitive too.

I feel about her the way some people feel about Fiona Apple, Billie Holiday or Joni Mitchell. Maybe some would find her music idiosyncratic but I find it soulful, smart, moving, clever and entertaining.

This is a woman who never fails to be adventurous, tantalizing, and innovative. I first heard cuts from this CD on the soundtrack for 'Monkeybone' (A perfectly ghastly film, starring Brendon Fraser). Her song, "Pauline" plays during the dreamworld scene of that film, and I went bananas, just trying to track it down. I read the credits to the film, but since the name "Pauline" wasn't mentioned very clearly in the film, it was not easy to figure out who/what the song was. I have all of Eleni's CDs except her foray into country (Sorry, but I can't listen to that, even from Eleni). "Thrill" is my favorite of her CDs, with numerous sly, funky, and mysterious songs. The only other artist as mercurial as Eleni would be my all-time favorite musician, David Byrne, late of the group "Talking Heads"

Not one bad song on the album. (Heavily influenced by the music of Tom Waits but without the gravily voice!!!) I think it's awesome. An eclectic mix. I've heard her other albums too, all good, but this one is my favorite. An unsung hero! You know how you get when you hear someone great that is not in the mainstream, you feel like you discovered them. That's how I feel.

I picked up this CD after I heard "Pauline" on my local radio station, and since I got it I have been hooked. One of the few cd's I can stand to listen to on repeat for long road trips, there is so much variety in style that it is hard to get bored. She gets compared to Tom Waits a lot, and I think this is fair. This is not for any similarity in style so much though, more in the ability to tell a good story. Eleni will take you through a world of dark alleys, secret meetings and betrayals, all with such vivid detail that you feel almost like you are watching a great noir film. On her next cd "Snakebite" you can hear her growing even further in her story telling ability, and I have great hopes for her that she will continue to grow even further. BTW, if she comes to your town, make sure to see the show, she is one of those rare artists who actually gives a live show that surpasses her albums. Plus she is really nice as well. :>

I've really enjoyed this album after picking it up at one of Ms. Mandell's shows. I see that several reviewers have compared her to PJ Harvey, but I think Tom Waits is a more apt comparison. Regardless, she has a style of her own and I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

I greatly enjoyed her first record, but I think this one surpasses it. Again it's hard not to compare Mandell's music to some of P.J. Harvey's earlier stuff. On Thrill, the song Giving Up The Fight reminds of PJ in moan-mode, and the opener, Pauline, sounds eerily like P.J. in snarl-mode. There's nothing wrong with that, but the real standout songs are the ones in which Mandell sounds most original: Never Know the Party's Here, with a jaunty trumpet line, and a sneaky accordion, is a revelation. And He Thinks He's In Love sounds like some kind of lost lounge classic. You can almost see Mandell wailing it in some noir-ish nightclub. She's found an interesting common ground on Thrill, a place where rock and lounge kind of intersect, quietly influenced by the alt-country thing. It's a vibrant sound.

Eleni Mandell has never needed help getting good press. Most of her albums leave fans and critics drooling, while her performances on L.A.'s public radio KCRW have become borderline legend. And that's because Mandell is truly hard to dislike. Thrill is one of the most entertaining albums I've found, especially from a quirky L.A. songstress. It's a `no-computers' take on heavy cabaret gestures that never loses its sense of danger and humor. In "Pauline" there's the menace of stealing a woman's beau with an eerie PJ Harvey-ish conviction in the singer's voice. "Closer To Him" is woozy and spacious, and will certainly grow on you in time. "No Good, No More" should have you wanting to bang along on a marimba, without clothes. But then, "Too Bad About You" steps in and, with a subtle Tom Waits flavor, leaves you feeling as helpless as Fay Wray in King Kong's palm. "1970 Red Chevelle" and "Never Know the Party's Here" are both colorful manic episodes, the latter sounding like a Salsa party. "Action Is Action" is an incendiary mostly-spoken flirt. "Nightmare Song" is a daydream about a killer, while "Taking You Out" plays the other side of the coin, seeing the hunter seduce her prey. "Giving Up the Fight" is a quietly seething gender-bending closer where Mandell's lyrics flesh out a person on the verge of an unspeakable frontier. I could go on of course, but needless to say with Thrill, every song lives up the title and is a highlight.

Eleni has that off-center vocal style that Lucinda Williams, among others have mastered. Her music, however, is very different from the country-ish Lucinda. She reminds me of the heyday of 70s/80s New Wave(the now-defunct group, The Waitresses, springs to mind). The melodies land on your brain and take root. She incorporates European and even middle eastern hooks into infectiously hummable tunes. I look forward to all of her future work.

The song "Too Bad About You" is well worth the price of admission alone - an almost absurdly gorgeous musical ache that arcs around architectures both literal and emotional. Somehow, Eleni has catapulted herself, in my mind, right up there with Costello and Waits - just like Tom took a quantum leap with Swordfishtrombones, so does Eleni with this record. The crime of the century if it's ignored.